A great win for the U14’s away to Gloucestershire
The U14 team travelled to play Gloucestershire at the glorious Stinchombe Hill GC. The course was in fantastic condition as always and on such a sunny day the views were spectacular. Worcestershire put its strongest pairing out first with captain Logan Lawless partnering Ollie Ansell. Both boys are single figure handicappers and the golf on show was superb. The Worcestershire boys went up early on but Ollie had to hold a 12ft putt for halve on the 9th to keep the momentum going. This turned out to be a big moment and the boys went on to win 5&4. Next up was Edward Perry and Kai Russell partnering for the first time at county level. A strong start saw Kai make a gross birdie on the first after a class approach shot. The Gloucestershire boys then won the 3rd hole and followed it up by putting their tee shot 8ft away from the pin. Edward was off the green but managed to put his delicate chip shot to 10 ft away and then held the putt which managed to secure a halve and the Worcestershire pair didn’t look back winning the match 3&2. The next match was a classic with Luke Hall and Harry Bird showing some real grit. The boys were down early on but pulled the match back to all square on the 13th hole. Harry Bird was holing some excellent putts but it was matched by the Gloucestershire boys. They took the match to the 17th but just fell short losing 3&1. In the next match Will Hadley partnered debutant Charlie Howden. The pair combined really well throughout and it was left to Charlie who had two putts for the win on the 16th green and he duly obliged with a 3&2 win. In the final group Oskar Nielsen and Jenson Chan paired up again after some good results last season. The boys were 5 up through 11 holes and despite a great comeback from the Gloucestershire boys they held on for a 2&1 win. The overall score was a 4-1 win to Worcestershire.
Congratulations to all the boys on a great win. They are making real progress as a team and it is a joy to be involved in their development. The match was played in a great spirit and I have never seen so many given putts at U14 level. My thanks go to Tom Gillespie from Gloucestershire who put everything in place for such a good day. I would also like to thank the course for the superb facilities and catering. Finally, I would like to thank our junior organiser Kevin Fee who was on hand to help the juniors and offer them advice. We are all looking forward to our next match which is away to Derbyshire in August.
Luke Perry
U14 Team Manager